elevating the profession

Will a tertiary sector impact positively on VET practitioners, asks John Mitchell?

The following article featuring Dr George Brown, group academic director of Think: Education Group recently appeared in Campus Review.

ACPET thanks Dr John Mitchell and Campus review for permitting ACPET to publish the article in its entirity.

There is a light flickering on the horizon that offers a way out of some tangled debates in VET.

That light is the emerging tertiary system in Australia, and it represents the removal of barriers between VET and higher education and the creation of one seamless post-compulsory education sector.

That light will eventually take attention away from endless debates such as whether VET practitioners are professionals or not. Eventually everyone teaching in the tertiary sector will be encouraged to become a professional tertiary educator.

The arrival of a tertiary system will end the debate in VET about whether a simplistic certificate level IV in training and assessment is an adequate qualification for a professional educator. In the tertiary system, a graduate certificate or diploma, not a lowly certificate, is likely to emerge as the common qualification required for admission to the profession.

This prediction is based on the fact that such graduate qualifications are emerging as the standard for teachers in higher education, and it will be untenable to lower that standard when the tertiary system becomes a reality. VET practitioners who can’t reach this new standard will miss out on full participation in a vibrant, stimulating community of practitioners who will elevate teaching to new heights.

An immediate benefit of these developments will be the promotion of a renewed public discussion about the definition of a professional educator. And the resultant definition will be richer and more valuable than previous ones.

A further benefit will be the invention of professional development strategies for tertiary educators that are more diverse and effective than many scatter-gun methods used to date. The ultimate benefit will be the increased quality of teaching and learning, enabling Australia’s tertiary system’s light to shine internationally.

Is the above description pure fantasy? Most of it is desirable, achievable and being actively pursued by progressive educational providers, according to Dr George Brown, group academic director of Think: Education Group. Think is a new-style organisation offering both VET and higher education programs through its eight training organisations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, such as the iconic Billy Blue College of Design.

Think is already firmly positioned in the tertiary sector and Brown is ensuring that the teaching staff are conversant with good practice from both VET and higher education. For instance, every year Think offers staff the opportunity to undertake a graduate certificate in foundations in learning and teaching.

“The program is bent towards the higher education sector, but it cuts across both VET and higher ed and covers the principles of adult learning,” said Brown.

“It brings together our industry professionals and we give them professional developments on engaging with students. Tapping into the principles of adult learning is a real imperative.”

Breaking down barriers

Brown has moved past the debates about whether the certificate IV is a sufficient for grounding for a practising professional.

“There’s a real need for ongoing professional development of teaching professionals. We require our certificate IV staff to come to the FILT program and engage with other educators in the community of practice about what Think is about in teaching and learning. We try to break down the barriers between VET and higher ed and together we hit the hard points about different approaches to assessment in the two areas.”

Brown readily admits that it is difficult to blend VET and higher education teaching staff in professional development activities, but he perseveres.

“Different assessment approaches are the types of hard issues we’re talking through. Do we have a perfect solution? No. But we bring the issues to the fore and we’re currently working on a whole range of special development activities to address those areas.

“The bottom line is, what happens in the classroom will make or break us. And that’s our bread and butter, so we’ve got to work hard at that. Think is dedicated to that.”

This blending of professional development for staff in VET and higher education is also bringing to the fore the definition of a professional tertiary educator, and Brown advocates the use of new terminology to describe these professionals.

“Our lecturers are trainers and assessors, but they’re more than that. They’re professionals who espouse the virtues of industry and the skills and knowledge and attributes that are necessary to be successful in industry. They must be cutting edge in their industry approaches and they must be contemporary and fresh and critiquing developments.”

This is no fantasy. The emerging tertiary sector has the potential to change definitions, end old debates and light up the entire post-compulsory teaching profession.

Contact gbrown [at] think [dot] edu [dot] au (George Brown)

Dr John Mitchell was recently appointed as an independent member of Think’s academic board.